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He loved this side of her. She was bold and brash and confident. She was feisty and fun loving and nothing seemed to frighten her. Not many women Jennie’s size – a mere 5’4” and 115 pounds if he was guessing right – would try the irreverent things she did with Chad.
At 6’4” and about 265 pounds of pure muscle, there weren’t many people who treated Chad the way Jennie did. She taunted and teased him at every turn, as if she was two or three feet taller.
Chad knew why she did it. They both felt the wild attraction that sizzled between them and they both worked hard to control it. With so many mutual friends, coupled with the fact that they worked together all day during the week, they couldn’t avoid seeing one another.
So Jennie seemed to deal with the attraction by throwing her saucy, cheeky attitude at him all the time. It was almost as if she tried to keep their interactions superficial, never going deeper than the surface. If she was busy yelling at him or taunting him, there wasn’t room for anything else.
Chad dealt with the attraction by staying in complete and utter control at all times around her. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on the curve of her tiny waist or the swell of her breasts in the bikini she wore as she fought with him now. He focused on her eyes, ignoring her body.
Then, he’d spend about five minutes telling himself that her eyes were nothing special. He’d tell himself her eyes weren’t warm and rich like melted caramel. That her eyes didn’t have a mysterious quality to them as if she held a world of secrets waiting for him to explore.
Shit. So much for control.
Chad wondered if Jennie would keep up her tirade if she knew just how sexy she was when she was angry. Or if she’d keep up the nicknames if she knew how much he liked to see what she’d call him next. Would it be ‘Tank’ today or ‘Little Bit?’ Or maybe “Mini Man.”
Jennie cupped her hand and splashed water across the net at Chad, pulling him from his thoughts.
Yeah, so much for maintaining control.
“Are you even listening to me, Chad?”
Nope.Chad’s grin broke through as he shook his head, willing it to clear. “Sorry, Jen. I tuned out five minutes ago.”
He knew that would really get her going and he’d get to watch her fume for a while longer. He could watch Jennie Evans storm at him forever and not get tired of it.
As the day wound down, Jennie wandered away from the pool and sat in one of the teak chairs that faced the back lawn of Jack and Kelly’s house on Long Island Sound in Connecticut. The sprawling house had become one of the main gathering places for their group in the summer. With a yard that sloped down to a small private beach and a pool with outdoor kitchen, it was perfect for barbeques and parties.
A welcome cool breeze brushed gently over Jennie’s bare arms. She curled her feet under her on the chaise lounge and listened to the noises of the party, letting them engulf her. The sounds of her friends laughing and talking soothed her.
Her black lab, Zeke, had given up playing with Zoe, the mixed breed puppy Jack and Kelly had rescued from the shelter, and Jill’s labradoodle, Rev. Zeke now lay, snoring loudly, but she was sure he’d open his eyes in a heartbeat if anyone dropped even a bite of food nearby. The six-year-old dog gave new meaning to the term ‘chowhound.’
Jennie’s eyes landed on Jill and Andrew walking hand in hand toward the beach. She smiled as she watched Jill lean into Andrew, who said something that made Jill laugh. After heartache neither one of them deserved, they had finally found each other. They’d been married in the spring and had just moved into a new home in New Haven. Jennie knew they were both eager to have children and Jill had mentioned that they wanted to start trying for a baby right away. She was happy for the new couple.
Today’s party was Kelly and Jack’s last chance to host a get together before their first baby came. Kelly was due in just three weeks, and even though she looked exhausted as she sat with Jack’s arms around her, she looked happier than Jennie had ever seen her. And that made Jennie happy.
Roark Walker, Jack’s lawyer and longtime family friend, was trying to help Jack’s housekeeper, Mrs. Poole, carry leftovers into the house. She was shooing him away with a scowl. The two were always fussing at one another for some reason, but even that made Jennie smile. It was comfortable and familiar. Like family, in a way.
Her eyes found Chad, who stood on the opposite side of the pool, beer in hand as he talked to friends. She felt the familiar quickening of her breath that always happened when she looked at him. Her eyes roamed over his strong chest and muscled arms, the broad shoulders of his imposing frame.
His dark looks—even with the smattering of scars that etched his skin from his time serving in the military overseas— rivaled those of the biggest and brightest stars of Hollywood. In spite of that, there wasn’t an arrogant bone in Chad’s body. This, of course, made him all the more attractive.
The man was stunningly handsome, unquestionably kind and gentle, and he sent the bones in Jennie’s body into a puddle on the floor when he glanced her way.
She didn’t want to be attracted to him. But, she found she couldn’t ignore his effect on her no matter how she tried. And that, unfortunately, tore at her heart. Jennie wished with all her being that Chad Thompson didn’t have such a powerful effect on her.
When she had first met Chad, she tried to find his faults. If she could get herself to see him as an arrogant jerk, she might be able to ignore the physical attraction she felt for him. It would certainly make it easier to resist him, anyway.
Since Chad was born into the Sutton family, he could have sat back and reaped the benefits of the family business without actually doing any work. He only worked until three o’clock many days, making Jennie assume he was living off of trust fund money and not really contributing at all. That made it easier to resist the outward allure for a little while.
Sadly, her first impressions didn’t last and Jennie soon had to admit that Chad was just as attractive a person on the inside as he was on the outside. It turned out he left work early to volunteer at a nearby veteran’s hospital.
And the more Jennie got to know Chad, the more apparent it became that he was anything but a selfish, spoiled trust fund brat. That certainly didn’t make it easier for her to resist him. But, she knew in her heart, she didn’t want a relationship with him or anyone else. She didn’t want the chemistry between them to exist.
“Hey, sweetie,” Kelly said as she lowered herself into the chair next to Jennie. She wasn’t moving very gracefully. “I swear, this baby has an elbow in my lung right now. She somehow gets up under my ribs and digs in and won’t let go.”
Jennie grinned at Kelly. “I can’t wait for that baby to get here.”
Kelly snorted. “You and me both.”
